SHANGHAI, China – Megaworld Hotels and Resorts (MHR) is targeting to open the country’s biggest hotel within this June, and if things go right, it could be Filipino billionaire Andrew Tan-led company’s first five-star hotel property too.

MHR bills the Grand Westside Hotel as its “most premium” brand so far, and the scale of the property is certainly ambitious. With more than 1,500 rooms, the 19-story, two-tower building will be the biggest hotel in the Philippines in terms of room keys.

For comparison, Megaworld’s other hotels only have an average of about 400 to 500 rooms.

“Our premium brand now, the Grand Westside Hotel, is targeted this June to open. But more than that, we are really excited because all of our brands are actually four-star,” MHR head of distribution Pebbles Caramat said on May 29, Friday. “We are also progressing as we speak on the type of hotels we offer.”

The hotel will only receive a star rating from the Department of Tourism once it is fully operational, but Caramat told reporters that MHR was vying for a “4.5 to 5-star” rating. If it attains that, the Las Vegas-inspired hotel will be the highest-rated in Megaworld’s portfolio, beating out the other 12 properties it handles.

Luxury, though, comes at a price as Caramat said that the price ranges for the rooms would be “a little higher up” than their other hotel brands, which include Savoy, Belmont, Richmonde, Kingford, Twin Lakes, and Hotel Lucky Chinatown.

During its soft opening in June, the Grand Westside Hotel may start taking in guests in its first tower only, although Caramat said that the target is to have all rooms available within 2024.

“Almost done na kami (We’re almost done) with the structure and interiors, but definitely other than the size and number of room keys, there would be upgrades on the facilities and amenities that this one would offer,” Caramat said after sealing a partnership deal with travel service provider Trip.com.

Filling up the rooms

MHR is the Philippines’ largest hotel operator, with more than 8,500 room keys, including the Grand Westside Hotel and other projects still in the pipeline.

How does Megaworld intend to fill up its thousands of rooms? One big target market are Chinese tourists.

From January to April 2024 alone, more than 141,000 Chinese visitors came to the Philippines, making China the country’s third top source of visitors behind South Korea and America. That figure is already more than double the number of Chinese tourists that came in the same period in 2023. It’s only expected to grow from here.

READ: How Chinese visitors could boost Philippine tourism in pandemic’s wake

Recognizing this, Megaworld recently joined hands with the Trip.com Group, which has a dominating presence in Mainland China and is rapidly expanding to other countries. As a “preferred partner hotel” for Trip.com, MHR will now receive “enhanced visibility” on Trip.com‘s platforms for Chinese and international travelers.

Megaworld eyes international tourists as Trip.com’s ‘preferred partner hotel’

“We are working on a pre-opening campaign for the property. Even before the property opens, we already start to feature [it]. In fact, that’s why we also have our marketing head here [in Shanghai] because we want to really understand how to properly feature this pre-opening hotel to international guests around the world,” Trip.com Group managing director Boon Sian Chai said after the partnership deal was sealed.

Caramat also said that Megaworld was “optimistic” about the continued rise in both domestic and international tourism in the Philippines after the pandemic disrupted travel, saying that the move to open massive new hotels was “very forward-looking when it comes to our tourism…and the hospitality industry.”

The Grand Westside Hotel is located near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City and is integrated into the Westside City Township also developed by Megaworld. – Rappler.com

Disclosure: The author was part of a media delegation to the Envision 2023 Global Partners Conference hosted by Trip.com Group